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Verizon iPhone 5 Will Not Offer Simultaneous Voice and Data [Update: It Was A Hardware Decision]

pragmatous said:
Name me 3 occasions where you absolutely must talk on the phone and browse the web at the same time on a phone?
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Weather alerts you will not get them while talking on the phone and may get hit by Tornado while driving cause you think that it's a normal thunderstorm
 
walkejos said:
Seriously??? I was all ready to switch to Verizon, but this is a dealbreaker for me. No voice and data together means no switch for me. I guess I'll have to endure AT&T's **** voice service for another 2 years.
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I'm wondering if people are missing a point here. It is possible that the iPhone 5 won't support simultaneous voice and data at LTE speeds, but will at 3G speeds? Does the phone simply fall back to 3G when a voice call is in progress? That would be ideal, but there's so much noise about this problem, it's not clear to me.

Doesn't matter to me, though. I'm on Rogers in Canada. 🙂
 
.....Eh not a big deal for me. When I talk, I talk....I rarely surf online and when I need to surf online for something important that I need (Example: Reservations, homework) I'll just say "Ill text you the details" and hang up :/
 
KPOM said:
It's probably not profits per se. Apple could have saved money using two older chips. It's that they wanted the phone to be thin and light and save battery above all.
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how important (sincerely) do you think the thinness is to the selling point of the iPhone. How many people would NOT get it because it was slightly thicker than what the iPhone 5 will be. Just shifting to the new screen makes it thinner than the 4S without changing any of the guts.

So when someone says form over function - this is what they are talking about. Like you said - they wanted the phone to be thin. They made sacrifices.
 
coolfactor said:
I'm wondering if people are missing a point here. It is possible that the iPhone 5 won't support simultaneous voice and data at LTE speeds, but will at 3G speeds? Does the phone simply fall back to 3G when a voice call is in progress? That would be ideal, but there's so much noise about this problem, it's not clear to me.

Doesn't matter to me, though. I'm on Rogers in Canada. 🙂
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CDMA 3G won't let you do voice+data anyway so no you can't do voice + 3G data on Verizon/Sprint iPhone 5.
 
Enough with the "YETS" & "SUPPOSED TO BE"

UGH someone from TIME is really playing the Defendent for them but Apple really dropped the ball on this one! 😡

I couldnt wait to buy a LTE iPhone 5 just because of this purpose I guess I will have to wait. SMDH Im not buying a 32GB anymore im getting the 16GB because it looks like ill be upgrading every year until then.
 
pragmatous said:
Name me 3 occasions where you absolutely must talk on the phone and browse the web at the same time on a phone?
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Well, according to the AT&T ads, if you are sitting right in front of a PC that is connected to wired ethernet and are holding an iPhone, you can look up answers to questions on radio contests while you talk.

I've never needed to talk and use the Internet at the same time, and I have AT&T service. In fact, I'd rather have the iPhone stop the call when I press the home button because I always instinctively do that to hang up but end up making the call keep going in the background, then I have to go back to my phone app to hang up.
 
Just watch, AT&T is going to milk this.

I was considering switching to Verizon, as they have a better LTE network, but when you add the fact that there's no simultaneous voice+data, AND the fact that I'll be paying $30 more a month for the same amount of data (4GB plan), I'm going to just stick with AT&T.

Screw it.
 
well...f&%k

I'm on Verizon. I rarely have a need to talk and surf at the same time, but the few times I have needed it I've been bummed not to have that option. Oh well.
 
KPOM said:
It's a function of getting the phone as small as possible and as battery efficient as possible by using a single chip. Verizon could solve this by deploying VoLTE (voice over LTE), but knowing them they will wait forever to do so. It's a curious decision by Apple, to say the least. If they had known that within an hour the message boards would be abuzz I'm curious if they'd have done this.

That said, for the record, this is absolutely the kind of thing Steve Jobs would have approved. As far as he was concerned, it's the carrier's fault for not supporting the latest and greatest. He likely would not have added a third antenna just to suit Verizon or Sprint.
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Well, I dont think I could put the blame on either. Verizon has LTE phones that support voice+data and it would obviously not be in their best interest to switch to VoLTE just to cater to one phone, even if it is the iPhone 5. Same goes for Apple. They have carriers all over the globe, they do not need to add an antenna just for Verizon and Sprint. It goes both ways, but I'm still bummed about this.
 
Ugh

This wouldn't upset me so much if I HADNT JUST CALLED 3 SEPARATE VERIZON REPS WHO ALL TOLD ME THAT IT DID IN FACT SUPPORT SIMULTANEOUS VOICE AND DATA. Dammit people. get your facts straight.
 
pragmatous said:
Name me 3 occasions where you absolutely must talk on the phone and browse the web at the same time on a phone?
Click to expand...

Here's three in the past month:

1. Reviewing a spreadsheet in the car in an airport parking deck with my CEO in preparation to send to a client with multiple versions being sent back and forth.
2. My wife going to my daughter's game and finding the game location switched last minute with me basically giving turn by turn directions looking at a map "are you at the gas station on your right? Good..now turn there and tell me when you get to the T intersection"
3. Using remote desktop to log into my work computer to find emails in my archive while talking to a colleague and answering her questions about client work.
4. Sitting on a train on a conference call with my phone acting as a hot spot for my ipad so I could follow along with the data being sent back and forth.
5. Talking with a friend about this guy that keeps asking for examples of SVD use while refreshing the page to see if he's posted more (ok, that didn't actually happen but it could!) 🙂

Ok, so that was five, not three! Just because you don't need it doesn't mean it's not an incredibly important, can't-live-without-it type of feature. None of the above would've been possible having to say "I'll check, let me call you back" over and over. If you don't need it, that's fine...stick with Verizon.
 
KPOM said:
It uses two radios and two antennas. It takes a toll on battery life. Verizon could address this by implementing VoLTE, which would benefit everyone using an LTE phone, including you, since it would shut off the CDMA radio entirely. They could also implement CDMA Rev B, which supports SVDO over CDMA.

It's a curious decision by Apple, to be sure, but I can understand the technical reasons for making that design choice (Apple wants to use a single more advanced chip than two less advanced chips to save space and battery life).

Anyway, I'm on AT&T, so I don't really care as I could do this years ago.
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But the battery life on my SIII is excellent. So that's not even an issue. Only once have I had a battery issue with my SGSIII and I was doing some HEAVY tethering, but I was still able to receive text and take calls while tethering at LTE speeds. Mind you my battery still lasted to 4 pm that day using it the majority of the day.
 
I put you in the shoe as the Chief Phone Architect and the Chief Strategic Marketer's shoe.

- Single chip solution for smaller phone and better battery life, but no simul CDMA voice + LTE data, which only affects a small number of CDMA carriers.

- Multi chip solution for bigger phone and worse battery life for EVERYONE, not just CDMA users, but you gain CDMA voice + LTE data.

I choose the latter, esp that I'm exclusively GSM/WCDMA. Better battery despite a smaller phone. Kick-ass! So is the rest of the world which is on GSM/WCDMA.

Put it plainly, it's Verizon's fault for going with CDMA, the ancient cancer of the mobile world.

The new cancer it's called LTE band fragmentation.... sigh.....


Solution:

If you have to do Verizon, and don't mind a bulky plastic phone that actually last next to no time on LTE, go Android.
Otherwise, just go back to the modern and civilized world of GSM/WCDMA. Isn't there a few providers w/ GSM/WCDMA in the states?

I bet you that on the next Android iteration, they will go the path of the iPhone also. I don't see how they ain't fed up with the crappy LTE battery life already.
 
Well again it has nothing to do with the phone maker. CDMA has never allowed voice and data.

Why did apple choose not to implement the work around? It was probably a design decision and the fact that the majority of people don't talk and browse the web on the phone. If you were someone looking to make a profit what would you do right?

I have the HTC Rezound.

lilo777 said:
I would agree if other LTE phones had the same limitations. They don't. There is a way to deal with this issue which Apple decided not to use in order to maximize their profits (as usual). Not a biggy. Verizon customers have had sub-par iPhone experience for a couple of years already, they can suffer for two more years. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why many people prefer Android phones. They (phones) are technically superior.
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Antenna-gate II

Simple form over function. The magical antenna design is still giving Apple problems. Apple would have had to completely redesign their whole RF section to accommodate the 3rd antenna and include mechanical design changes. Probably would have missed the whole holiday season if they added it.
 
BiscottiGelato said:
Solution:

If you have to do Verizon, and don't mind a bulky plastic phone that actually last next to no time on LTE, go Android.
Otherwise, just go back to the modern and civilized world of GSM/WCDMA. Isn't there a few providers w/ GSM/WCDMA in the states?

I bet you that on the next Android iteration, they will go the path of the iPhone also. I don't see how they ain't fed up with the crappy LTE battery life already.
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Your solution is farcical. Bulky plastic phone? Which model are you referring to - the many that are even thinner than the iPhone 5?

Crappy LTE battery life? I don't know - I own an iPhone 4 and Samsung Skyrocket (with LTE) - both on ATT - and both have the same battery life with similar usage.

Posting your nonsense doesn't make it true. It just makes you seem uneducated about the industry.
 
samcraig said:
how important (sincerely) do you think the thinness is to the selling point of the iPhone. How many people would NOT get it because it was slightly thicker than what the iPhone 5 will be. Just shifting to the new screen makes it thinner than the 4S without changing any of the guts.

So when someone says form over function - this is what they are talking about. Like you said - they wanted the phone to be thin. They made sacrifices.
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I didn't say the complaints were without merit. I'm just pointing out that there was a reason. Whether it's a good reason is up to customers.
 
Then CDMA is not the network for you. Move on and choose AT&T.

rtkane said:
Here's three in the past month:

1. Reviewing a spreadsheet in the car in an airport parking deck with my CEO in preparation to send to a client with multiple versions being sent back and forth.
2. My wife going to my daughter's game and finding the game location switched last minute with me basically giving turn by turn directions looking at a map "are you at the gas station on your right? Good..now turn there and tell me when you get to the T intersection"
3. Using remote desktop to log into my work computer to find emails in my archive while talking to a colleague and answering her questions about client work.
4. Sitting on a train on a conference call with my phone acting as a hot spot for my ipad so I could follow along with the data being sent back and forth.
5. Talking with a friend about this guy that keeps asking for examples of SVD use while refreshing the page to see if he's posted more (ok, that didn't actually happen but it could!) 🙂

Ok, so that was five, not three! Just because you don't need it doesn't mean it's not an incredibly important, can't-live-without-it type of feature. None of the above would've been possible having to say "I'll check, let me call you back" over and over. If you don't need it, that's fine...stick with Verizon.
Click to expand...
 
YesILoveTech said:
But the battery life on my SIII is excellent. So that's not even an issue. Only once have I had a battery issue with my SGSIII and I was doing some HEAVY tethering, but I was still able to receive text and take calls while tethering at LTE speeds. Mind you my battery still lasted to 4 pm that day using it the majority of the day.
Click to expand...

It's a function of the size of the phone. The S3 is as big as a pancake. It should have decent battery life.
 
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